Valve lifter and compressor



GUSTAV irsTORM, or s BoRN, rowa,

I I Patented July 27, 19 26.

AT N VALVE LIFTER Ann eoivrrnn'ssoa.

I Application filed February to provide a valve, litter of simple] tongsI type which is ofsimple, durable,-v and inexvthe device.

pensive construction, and j which can be quickly changed to serve eitheras a litter or a compressor.

e a in l ter a d compre so n which the change from lifting tocompressing form is made by. simplyreversing one of themembersof a pairof tongs which is pivoted to a fulcrum secured tothe other member, thefulcrum being designed to re crave the pivoted member in any of severaladjusted positions, whereby the normal distance betweenthe jaws can bevaried.-

Ano he o jec of my nt on. sto P10 ride means for locking the handles ofthe t ng ga t ovemen e t r. to ar o from eacho her, said ea bei g such.t a

the changing of the de ice from a lifter to a c mpressor is not inter eed with, f

A s l ur -h' r bject i to pro de s ch a. locking" means which isnormall-y autom ttically urged away from looking position, but which-isretained in looking 'position by tension or pressure between the'handlesof More particularly, it is my object to pro- ,vide such a locking meanscomprising a rack-bar pivoted to one of the handles, adapted to coactwith a {pin securedxto the Other handle, the rackebarbeingv.normally sding-urged away from said pin, but. so constructed as to beretainedagainst such reced ng movement by engagement-.ofthe pin in thenotches. of the rackbar under the .prises a handle having a channeledportion j I I I 10, a rolled. handle proper 11, and a jaw Pith theseandother objects inyiew, my invention consists in the construction, ar-

,i'nfluence of either tension. or pressure bet een the handles.

rangement, and combination of v the' various parts of my device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter. more fully setforth, pointed out in my claims, illustrated' in theaccompanyingdrawings, inwhich;11 r j ig, is a perspective-vi w f myi Ant e o jec o my i b O Pro? 1s, iszejseria mi,sauce' I Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional View of rioFFIcE]. v

the device in position'to be-useolas a lifter,

Fig, 3 is a similar. view illustrating the device in and Y Fig.4 is anenlarged detail view of a portion'ofth -bar. a

The advantage'of combining a Valve litter and compressor lies in thefact that under some conditionsit maybe more'desirable to.

position to be used as acompressor,

lift a spring, where-asunder"othersit may be preferable to compress itTo combine the lifter andcompressor in one tool is obvi ously an'advantagein that the expense of obtaining both a lifter and acompressor is d e sed. a dth m chanic Wil n i easier to keep track' of a,singleytool than t ot In the valve Llifterart 'itv has been recognizedthat the ordinary tong'stype ofl valve litter is themostj satis'it'a'ctory My invention thereforeaims to provide a combined compressor andlifter of the tongs form, and

in s jd ing he m in pro l me ountered is that of prov ding meansforlocklng' the handles together, and to' s o, construct Said locking meansthatit will serve inlockin'g thehandles againsttmovement in eitherdirectionaccordingly as the device is used as compressor or litter, andyet to obtain a simple arrangement by whichqthe locking nieans'can bespring-urged in one direction, and operable in the other direction bythe .tingerof the operator. with relation to lock ing position Y i n Ihave obtained this result in a simple tong member-s A and B, each ofwhichcommember; 112. 'llhe, jaw members 12 are formed by spreading thesides of the ch'an nel member. 10 to form theqsidefianges13,

flattenmgout the intermediateyportion to I v A. fulcrum 16issecuredbetweenthe manner in, a deviceembodying a pair of fromsheet-metal A to and from the member B.

The member A is provided with openings 1.9, designed to register withany one of the openings 18, and to receive a pintle 20 for pivoting themembers together. A slot 21 is provided in the web of the channel l0 ofthe member A, to receive the fulcrum 16, and it is of such width as toallow pivoting movement of the member A relative to the fulcrum.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the members A and B are shown adjusted to act as aspring lifter, the jaws 12 opening in the same direc tion. In Fig. 3 themember A has been simply removed by removing the pin 20, then reversedand replaced over the fulcrum in such reversed position. The devicethereby is adapted to act as a compressor, the jaws 12 opening towardeach other.

The locking device comprises a rack-bar 22, pivoted at 23 to the memberB. A spring 24 secured in the rack-bar and in the fulcrum 16 undercompression tends to urge. the rack-bar 22 away from the fulcrum 16. Afoot 25 formed on the rack-bar 22 is adapted to engage the web of thechannel 10 to limit the motion of the rack-bar in this direction,approximately as indicated in dotted lines iii-Fig. 3. j

A slot 26is formed in the web of the channel 10 of the member A toreceive the rack-bar 22. A pin 27 is secured between the sides of thechannel 10 of the member A, in such position, as to be receivable in anyof the notches 28 which are formed in the side of the rack-bar facingthe fulcrum 16. The pin is so positioned relative to the slot as toallow the rack-bar to recede a sufficient amount before contacting withthe edge of the slot, to clear the pin of the rackbar.

It will now be seen that the spring 24: will normally maintain therack-bar away from engagement with the pin 27. When a spring is beingengaged by the lifter, however,,it is desirable and almost necessarythat the rack bar be adapted to lock itself, in engagen'ient with thepin so that the hands of the operator may be removed. To this end I formthe notches 28 expanded inwardly away from the edge of the rack-bar, asshown in Fig. l. The notches are expanded in either directionlongitudinally of the bar, and thus there is provided for each notch a.pair of inclined shoulders 29 restricting the notches at the edge of thebar.

I find the shoulders can be best formed by providing the notches 28 ofsubstantially circular form and connected with the edge of the bar byrestricted neck openings 30 just wide enough to allow passage of the pinIt will now be seen that spring pres sure against the tongs, tending tourge the handles either apart of together, will cause the pin 27 toengage one or the other of the shoulders 29 in such a manner and withsulificient grip to prevent receding movement of the rack-bar 22 underthe urge of the spring 24:.

When it is desired to releasethe locking device the handles are simplycompressed or expanded against the action of the valve spring, and therack bar 22 will, under the urge of the spring 24, recede from the pin27 until the neck opening 30 registers with the pin when the rack-barwill fly back to inoperative position.

It is practically impossible for the pin 27, in moving toward the centerof the notch 28, to pass the opening 30 and become engaged against theother shoulder. This is due to the fact that the shoulders 29 are inclined toward the neck opening 30, and the rack-bar will recede,allowing the pin to approach the opening 30 by sliding along theinclined shoulder so that by the time the pin has approximately reachedthe center of the notch it will have become almostdisengaged from therack-bar.

When it is desired to lock the handles, the rack-bar is simply pushedforwardly by the thumb or finger of the operator and the handles workedup or down until the pin 27 has entered one of the notches 28, whereuponby first releasing the handles and then releasing the thumb from therack-bar it will be found to have locked itself in position.

WVhat I claim is 1. In a valve lifter and compressor, a pair of jaws,handles on said jaws, a fulcrum on one of said handles having openingsdesigned to register with an opening in the other handle, means forpivoting said other handleto the fulcrum in either of two reversedpositions at any of the openings in the fulcrum, and means for lockingthe handles against movement either toward or from each other, saidmeans being spring-urged away from locking engagement and adapted to beheld in looking engagement by tension or pressure between the handles.

2. In a valve lifter and compressor, a pair of jaws, handles on saidjaws, fulcrum on one of said handles, means for pivoting said otherhandle to the fulcrumin either of two reversed positions, and means forlocking the handles against movement either towardor from each other,said means being springurged away from looking engagement and adapted tobe held in looking engagement by tension or pressure between thehandles.

3. In a valve lifter and compressor, a pair of tongs having handles andhaving jaws 1,594,027f g J v adapted to engage spring foreither'liftinghaiaway fromsaid pin, engagement of the or compression, a rack-barpivoted to one pin with the rack barin the notches being 10 of saidhandles and having detent notches secured by r-p ressiire of said vpinagainst each'expanded away fromthe edge of the {either side 'of-anyofsaid notches; I

Y 5 bar'in both'directio'ns longitudinally there- Signed atSioux City,inthe' conntyof of, a pin secured to thefother handle and Woodbury andState of-Ioiiva, this5th day positioned to be received in any of said ofFebruar'y, 1926. 5 1',

notches, an d'a spring normally urging the .j' GUS TAV F. STORM.

